A leaked United Nations document says India is one of several countries that has been lobbying to change key climate report. The document accessed by BBC news reveals how countries are trying to change a crucial scientific report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on how to tackle climate change.
The report came out on Thursday, with a week left for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. The event hosted by the United Kingdom will happen on 31 October – 12 November 2021, making major commitments to climate policies.
Coal will continue to power much of India for the next few decades, the country has told the UN.
India is the world’s third-largest carbon emitter, after China and the US. Countries will be asked to commit to slashing greenhouse gas emissions at the COP26 climate summit in November.
BBC says that the leaked documents consist of more than 32,000 submissions made by governments, companies and other interested parties lobbying to change key climate report.
The IPCC report that came out in August claims that the world will probably reach or exceed 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) of warming within just the next two decades.
A senior scientist from India’s Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, which has strong links to the Indian government, warns coal is likely to remain the mainstay of energy production for decades because of what they describe as the “tremendous challenges” of providing affordable electricity.
India is already the world’s second-biggest consumer of coal.
India aims for renewables and nuclear energy to account for 40% of its installed electricity capacity by 2030 – a goal it could achieve ahead of time, according to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT).
CAT estimates that by 2030, India’s emissions intensity will fall to 50% below 2005 levels, going past its avowed target, 35%. But India has yet to explain how it will reach net-zero emissions – nor has it said by when it plans to do so.
